Death of a Love
by Pittooey
Summary: The story of Neku's girlfriend and how she coped with his death. How will she cope with it? What will happen when he comes back? Will he try to contact her?
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Cenestia! Why the glum look?" My best friend, Zoey, asked me as her and our five other friends – Kris, Athena, Caransa, Nalia, and Lily - sat down next to me at the lunch table. They all stared at me curiously, the same question lingering on their eyes.

"I… I don't want to talk about it right now." I replied, picking at my lunch. I had one elbow up on the table, with my cheek leaning on my open palm. I stared down at my food, not even bothering to look up. I wasn't in the best mood, and I didn't want to talk about it. As usual.

"C'mon Cene, you never talk about anything!" Kris jabbed at me with her fork in an attempt to make me speak. I swatted her hand away and shook my head. She put her arm around my shoulders and nudged me again. "Pleeeeeaaaasssseeee tell us what's wrong?" She asked again.

"No! Just…" I took a deep breath and sighed. "Just leave me alone and let me think about it, okay?" I said, moving away from Kris' arm. They all looked at me, worried, and I turned away, blinking past tears. I didn't want to tell them that I had found my boyfriend's dead and lifeless body last night by the Udagawa back streets. He had always gone there after school, and I always met up with him after I talked to everyone else. "Ow!" I turned, rubbing the back of my head, glaring at Caransa and chucking the piece of pretzel back at her. "Why'd you do that?"

"To get you to stop crying, that's why." She stared at me, wonder still lingering in her eyes. I looked at all of them; they all had wonder in their eyes. "Did something happen to your boyfriend?" Caransa asked, knowing how much I liked him.

"Yeah. He's dead." I said, standing up and grabbing my lunch tray. I walked to throw it out and kept on walking towards the bathroom. I could feel their stares boring into my back. I could practically feel that they were dumbfounded and shocked as I left the cafeteria, or, as the school liked to call it, the 'dining hall.' I didn't even bother to ask a monitor if I could go, I just left as I felt tears stinging at my eyes.

I wiped away the tears that fell down my cheeks as I marched towards the bathroom. I'll save the crying for the bathroom stall. Right now, all that mattered was getting there without anyone noticing. I had to stop and lean against the lockers and take deep breaths a couple of times before I actually managed to close the stall door and let myself sob.

As I sat in the bathroom, I started to think back to the first time we met, and the first time he asked me out. We were both in some of the same classes. It was second period, math class. I noticed he was sitting alone – again – so I went to sit next to him. I didn't care much about anyone else in the class anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

'Hey.' I had said to him as I sat down. He simply glared at me and edged away from me. I lowered my gaze, but didn't get up. A few days passed and I continued to sit next to him every day in math. A few days turned into a week, which turned into a month. After that first week, he started to grow on me, and I him. He actually started to talk to me – he wouldn't take off those headphones though. Even so, we became really close.

Anyway, one day, he was helping me with some problems I was having trouble understanding the problems. We were sitting real close because, ya know, we _were_ close. He had his head on my shoulder, looking down at my paper, talking me through the problems. 'Cene?' He muttered all of a sudden.

'Hm?' I looked up from my paper to look at him. 'What's up, Neku?' I could see him slightly blushing.

'Er, I was wondering…if...'

'If what? You know you can ask me anything!'

'If you'd like to go out with me sometime!' He whispered suddenly. I looked at him, surprised, and he seemed very unsure of himself.

'Neku, I'd love to!' I replied.

I sighed happily after rethinking through this all. My sobs continued, more softly now, but the tears came just as fast. I really did miss him.

I heard a knock on my stall door. "Cene? You in there, girly?" I heard someone ask. It sounded like Athena. "Can I come in?"

"Athena? Sure," I croaked out, stopping the flow of tears but not the sniffles. "Come on in, Nerd Geekus Maximus. What time is it?"

"Time to get back to class -or - do you want to talk about it? Do you know how he died?"

I nodded my head, finally feeling an overwhelming urge to talk. "The cops are saying that someone shot him when he was at the Udagawa Back Streets, admiring the CAT mural like he did every day after school. I'd meet up with him there after extra help most days, but the day he died, they had that way blocked off and didn't allow anyone to enter. That's how I found out he died."

"Did they find the murderer yet?"

I sighed. "Not yet. I hope they find him soon though so that he, or she, can get punished."

"I would hope so...have the cops found any trail yet?"

"For the murderer? No, not yet. All they know is that Neku was shot a few times and the killer ran. That's it right now."

Just then, the bell went off and Athena looked at me. "Come on, we have Global now, we should get to class."

I shook my head. "Go on without me. I don't feel like going to class anymore today - I might have my mom come pick me up. Tell the teach that I went home, okay?"

"Okay. See you."

"See ya."


	3. Chapter 3

A few days later…

I had finally started going to school again. I'd gotten over Neku enough that I could go back to school and be with my friends and learn - but not enough that I wouldn't stop loving him or forget him. I looked across the English classroom as everyone else took a test and I didn't - the teacher let me have another couple of days to study since I was absent for quite a while. I made eye-contact with one of the popular girls, Eri. _Huh…_ I thought to myself, finding it strange that Eri's best friend wasn't there beside her. _Wonder where Shiki is._

I groaned, putting my head on the cool desktop and breaking eye contact with Eri. I've been getting a lot of headaches lately, ever since Neku died. I guess it's because he's gone. I've gotten so used to having around that...it's odd for him not to be next to me anymore.

I looked at the desk next to me, eyes getting glassy at the emptiness of it. _That's where Neku always sat…_ I blinked back tears before they escaped and put my forehead against it again.

_BERRIINNNNGGGG!_ There goes the bell that marks the end of the period. I sighed gratefully. Picking up my stuff, I trudged towards the door on the opposite side of the room. When I passed Eri, I barely heard her whisper my name, which _rarely_ happened.

"Cenestia! Can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked, putting her bag on her desk and looked at me through wet eyes.

"Um...sure, Eri. What's up?" I said, turning to her. My bag hung off of one shoulder and I moved closer to Eri's desk so no one would bump into it.

"Did…" She blinked back tears and cleared her throat, starting again at a lower volume. "Neku...did...did he die too?"

I stared at Eri. Was that was happened to Shiki?! Did she die too? I nodded. "Yeah, he did." I whispered in a hoarse voice. "What about Shiki? She dead?" I asked, staring down at my feet.

"Yeah. She's gone." Eri burst into tears just then and I didn't know what to do. I stared at her, worry in my eyes. Just then, luckily, one of her friends came back and started to comfort her. She didn't even notice me. I snuck out of the classroom.

The next class I had was Math. I almost burst into tears like Eri did earlier, but I managed to stop the tears in time. _This is where me and Neku first met. _I plopped down in my normal seat and threw my bag down on the ground next to me.

I leaned back in my chair, looking up at the ceiling. I had just put my hands behind my head and gotten my chair balanced on the two back legs when I heard a faint "hello". My chair slammed back onto the ground with a loud bang. I looked over at where Nekky - that's my nickname for Neku - used to sit and saw Eri sitting there.

"You're...in this...class?" I asked her, quite a bit surprised. I had never realized that she was in this class too - I guess I was always too captivated by Neku to really notice anyone else in this class.

"Yeah I am." She giggled. "Shiki was too...until…" Eri looked down at the desk and sniffled.

I looked down at my own desk, knowing where she was going with this. "Yeah...I get it. So was Neku."

It seemed like for these past few minutes, me and Eri have really started to connect with each other. Just because both of us had lost someone close and dear to us.

I smiled gently at her, and she smiled weakly back. Due to our loss of partners, we worked together. We actually became friends. It was...actually pretty nice. And unexpected. But I liked it. And I'm pretty sure she did too. I mean, we were both smiling and laughing and having a good time.

We left math class together, arms linked together. We looked at each other, smiling. "What do you have now?" I asked her.

"Social studies. What about you?"

"Art."

"I'll see you at lunch. You're sitting with me today, okay?" She hip-bumped me and giggled.

I giggled too. "Alright. Seeya Eri."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm sorry for the late update :) I wanted to make one more update before I left for sleepaway camp. I'll be coming back on August 2nd, so don't expect another update until then. Thank you for reading!**

At lunch, I actually did end up sitting with Eri and her friends. It was awkward for me, because I never really sat with a big group of people before. It was usually just me and Neku. But the other girls seemed to be cool with it. I guess they saw me as taking the place of Shiki.

All of a sudden I got this chill around my arms as if someone was hugging me. I looked around, but there was no one there. _Guess its just the wind… _I thought to myself. I looked at Eri and she seemed to have the same chill. No one else had it. I smiled at Eri and she smiled back.

Eri and I were walking to our next class together - it seemed like we had a lot of classes together - when she asked me something out of the blue. "Hey, Cenestia? Did...you get a chill during lunch too?"

"Yeah...I did. It was almost like someone was hugging me. What about you?"

"Same...Do you think it was Shiki and Neku trying to talk to us?"

"Maybe…" I sighed. "I really do miss him."

"And I really miss Shiki…" Eri sighed.

We walked into our study hall together and everyone was staring at us. _Yeah, we were talking and walking with each other...so what, losers?_ I thought to myself as Eri and I found seats next to each other in the back.

The teacher took attendance and then let us do whatever we wanted to. Eri and I were talking and working on some of our homework. People kept saying hi to Eri and glaring at me. I wasn't really nice to these people. Ever.

"Why are people glaring at you?" Eri asked me.

"Oh, I'm never really nice to them, so I guess they all hate me." I shrugged it off.

"Oh...okay. Why?"

I shrugged again. "I dunno. I never really had a reason to be nice to them."

"You should try to nice to them!"

"Is there a reason to be?" I cocked my head to her.

"You make friends!" Eri smiled at me.

"I don't want friends…" I slumped in my seat. "I want Neku back…"

Eri sighed. "I feel the same way you do, in a sense. Hanging with friends just isn't the same without Shiki."

We both sighed as we took out our homework and started to work on it. After a few minutes, I noticed myself doodling Neku's name all over my paper. I glanced over at Eri to see if she got any work done, and noticed she was doodling Shiki's name. _We're not the same without them, are we…?_ I thought quietly leaning back in my chair, putting my legs up on the desk and my hands behind my head.

Out of the blue, I heard a song that Neku listened to a lot, and shared with me once. What was it called? Calling? Yeah, it was definitely Calling. I was wondering where it was coming from. My iPhone was off, and even if it was on, I hadn't liked it enough to download it. I looked around and saw no source of the music. I shrugged it off, making myself believe that I was just thinking about Neku and his music.

I turned back to my work when I felt a strange presence behind me. I looked up and no one was there. Everyone was sitting at their desks, chatting or doing work, and the teacher was on the computer. I looked at Eri, who looked like she felt a presence too. We looked wide-eyed at each other.


	5. Chapter 5

After school, I went to a backstreet ramen place. I heard the door open and looked up, gasping inwardly. There was Neku with someone else following behind him. "Neku?!" I breathed heavily.

Neku looked at me, eyes wide. "Cene!" He instantly walked over to me and sat down across the table, grabbing my hands and smiled widely at me.

"I...I thought you were dead…" I whispered, tears springing to my eyes.

"I am. Well, not exactly...it's a long story…" He sighed, the girl who came in behind him coming up to us. "When I died, I was...entered in this game of sorts for my life." He scratched his head.

"So you do have a friend, Neku!" The girl behind him squeaked.

Neku blushed. "She's not my friend, Shiki…" He said to her, not taking his eyes off of me. "She's my _girlfriend_."

"Aw Neku! That's so cute!"

_So her name is Shiki, huh?_ I thought. To be honest, I was kinda jealous of her for hanging out with Neku. "Wait, Shiki?!" I looked up at her, surprised. "As in, Eri's friend, Shiki?" Now that I looked at her, I realized she looked like Eri. Exactly like Eri.

"Yeah, why?" She asked confused.

"Eri's upset about losing you…" I replied. "She was crying the other day."

She gasped and looked down at the ground. "Neku...can we, uh, go?" It was obvious she was uncomfortable.

"Uh, sure…" He said, kissing me on the lips real quick before getting up. "I'll be alive again, don't worry Cene." He smiled at me before leaving.

I was smiling for the rest of the day. Because I knew everything was going to be okay.


	6. Chapter 6

When I got home that day, I went straight to my room and plopped right into my bed. I grabbed the stuffed bear Neku won for me at a carnival one time and squeezed it tight. I held it close to my chest and smelled it. It still smelled like him and I was really glad about that.

My mom entered my room then. "You seem happier." She said, leaning on my door frame.

"Go away, Mom." I said into the bear, otherwise ignoring my birth-giver in my doorway.

She rolled her eyes and left. "Okay whatever." She said, closing my door.

A couple of tears slid out of my eyes as I continued to think about Neku. My tears soaked into the bear and I just wanted to scream out of happiness that he was doing okay. My smile fell then. _Well, I _hope _he's doing okay..." _I thought to myself.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, I skipped to school and almost knocked over Eri. "Oh! Sorry!" I said helping her up.

She looked at my smile and raised her eyebrows, smiling back. "You're happy today."

I nodded. "Shiki and Neku are okay!" I exclaimed.

"What?! Really?" She covered her mouth.

I nodded again, my smile falling. "Well, not exactly. They're dead, but they're fighting for their lives. They have a week, and it's been 6 days, so they must be doing great!" I said, my smile back. Eri smiled again and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back.

We walked to school together, arm in arm. We kept giggling and whispering 'they're okay.'

At lunch, Eri singled me out and asked me how I knew they were okay. I told her about how I was at Ramen Don yesterday afternoon and they came in and explained it to me.

"Wait. So, they can see us, but we can't see them?" She asked.

"Correct. We can only see them if they're in a store that allows them to be seen….I think." I said. "I didn't understand it really, Neku said it was hard to explain in words."

Eri nodded, still a bit confused. "I think I get it, for the most part at least." She said, smiling. "I'm just glad that they're going to be okay."

"Me too! Hopefully…" I added.


	8. Chapter 8

Two days later, I was ten times more excited. I looked for Neku everywhere in school. At the end of the day, I texted him since I couldn't find him. It bounced back. My shoulders slumped. He must have lost….

I went into Ramen Don that afternoon, the last place I saw him, to try to cheer up. I entered and went to sit down, staring at the door. I half-heartedly hoped he would walk in. I ended up just looking at my ramen.

A couple of minutes later, I heard the ding of the bell on the door. I looked up, tears in my eyes. I saw a red-haired boy with purple headphones. I gasped. "Neku?" I whispered, and he looked towards me. "Neku!"

He smiled at me and went to sit across from me. "Hey. I lost, but I have another chance." He said, holding my hand. An extremely feminine boy followed Neku and giggled. "Can you stop with that annoying giggle?!" Neku growled at him. I raised my eyebrow at Neku, looking for an explanation. "So, I ended up winning last week. But only Shiki got to go back. I had a choice of-" The femme boy cut Neku off.

"Neku here chose to play again, instead of being a Reaper or dying forever." He said, giggling. "I'm Joshua, by the way. And you are?" He said, introducing himself.

"I'm...Cenestia, Neku's girlfriend." I introduced myself, staring at him.

"Nekky, you have a girlfriend?" Joshua said giggling. "You didn't tell me that!"

"I barely even know you. I met you yesterday." Neku growled, blushing and looking at me.

I looked back at Neku. "I've missed you...do you have to do another week?" I asked him, hushedly. He nodded and we both sighed. "So where's Shiki now?" I asked, looking into his eyes. He looked down at the table.

"Well...ah, see...to get to be able to play this game...you, ah…" He was struggling for words when Joshua cut in again.

"You have to give up what's most important to you to play. This week, Neku had to give up Shiki." I stared at the blonde as that info soaked into my brain.

After a second, my heart shattered and I looked back at Neku. If he had to give up what was most important to him, and I wasn't taken, does that mean I wasn't as important as something else? Neku must have seen the curious sadness in my eyes when he started talking again. "I, um...don't know why you weren't taken. You're pretty damn important to me."

"What was taken from you last week?" My voice cracked a bit at the end as I pulled my hands away from his and tears threatened to fall.

"My memories. All of them, including most of the ones about you. The only one that wasn't taken from me...was of when we were hanging out one time." He looked down at the table again. Joshua giggled again.

"To be fair, it's evaluated on the perspective of the current Game Master. It's not his fault." He said. "He might have had some input on how he was feeling, but other than that, he has absolutely no control over what is taken." Joshua put a hand on Neku's shoulder, and the redhead quickly shook it off. "Neku, we need to head out." He giggled.

Neku looked up at me and nodded. He leaned over the table and kissed my lips. "I love you. Never forget that." He whispered as he stood up and was dragged out the door.


End file.
